Category: Retrospective

Given the lack of fresh blogging on our front page, one might have begun to wonder if L2Ork had filed for whatever is the academic equivalent of Chapter 11. In part to dispel such unfounded concerns, it is my hope the following post is going to assure you L2Ork is not only still here, it is stronger than ever. It is simply that we’ve all been tremendously busy this past semester and as such our blogging activities have taken a back seat until things settled down a bit. So, what have we been up to?

Our membership has been on a steady rise and our infrastructure keeps improving on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, apart from upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04 (a.k.a. Long Term Support release), we’ve had a slew of pd-l2ork updates to the point we now maintain our own Git hub. Most recently, pd-l2ork has introduced infinite undo and a number of graphically-friendly editing options that should make creating pieces for the ensemble a breeze (belated warning: non-geek readers may want to simply skip the previous two sentences altogether :-).

Technical matters aside (as exciting as they may be), the fall has proven an intense semester, indeed. Apart from the Virginia State Fair which has also spawned flattering media coverage, L2Ork has also had shows at Ferrum College as well as Blacksburg’s Gilbert Linkous Elementary, where we’ve received standing ovations for performances of pieces I honestly worried would be too long and slow-paced for kindergarten, elementary and middle school children. With such thankful audience I must say that performance is definitely among my favorites. And as if that weren’t enough, kids from the entire school have drawn and mailed us literally dozens upon dozens of thank you cards featuring scenes and student impressions from our performance! Finally, in early November, I took a trip down to Texas A&M for an invited lecture and performance as part of the award L2Ork received this past February.

All in all, it’s been a busy semester and with the newfound Virginia Tech Institute for Creativity, Arts & Technology (ICAT) now in full swing, it appears the next semester will be even more intense (more on that soon…). So, while we are all trying to catch our collective breaths, spend some quality time with our families, and indulge in eggnog, I invite you to check out latest version of pd-l2ork, visit our YouTube page, join our Facebook page, or follow us via our new Twitter account (many thanks to L2Orkists for their initiative on this one!). I wish you all very best for the Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Well, it’s been a week since our weekend marathon and the adrenaline is finally subsiding :-). And what a series of performances has it been! Starting with the sneak peek at Roanoke College on April 8th and followed by two benefit events on Virginia Tech campus in front of a nearly full concert hall (I must admit I was a bit concerned how many people we might get considering this was our first ticketed event), things ran smoother than ever. More so, this time the spring event was bigger than ever with four guest artists Ron Coulter (percussion), Brad Garton (electronics), Peter Kirn (electronics), and Dave Phillips (electronics). We’ve also had (thanks to all the hard work of Michael Matthews) a really funny piece for the 4th and 5th graders that integrated Renoise with pd-l2ork (which, by the way has seen a slew of recent releases with really cool improvements).

Consequently, I would like to use this opportunity to once again thank all our guests, supporters, partners, sponsors, as well as our Stakeholders without whom none of this would’ve been possible or made any sense.